There’s a real update in the pipeline, but first here’s a couple of links which amused me this morning:

This one’s for posicat, though I’ll bet he already knows: Diane Duane has posted the first chapter to her subscription-only e-book. It’ll be interesting to see how the economics of this work out, and if it is actually worth her time to publish this way.

GAHHHHH! This is not what I need to see in the morning. Tell me again how creepy, bizarre pictures help sell your product? (granted, it gets people to link to your ad, evidently…)

It’s not too late to vote for the worst company in America! The competition has been fierce, and many worthy contenders (Wal Mart, Sprint, Monsanto) have fallen by the wayside, but in the end it’s down to two: Halliburton vs. ChoicePoint. Whose evil will reign supreme?

What’s Alton Brown been up to lately? Check out this twelve-minute podcast (playable in Flash, even!) to hear an interview with him at the Housewares Show in Chicago last weekend. Find out why he adores Shun knives, what Good Eats episodes are in the pipeline (hint: cinnamon rolls is one of them!), and some very cool webcasting plans that are in the works.

It’s not particularly useful, but I find the concept amusing: Wiki on a Stick (How to install MediaWiki on a thumb drive)

And finally, it’s nice to know at least some of the CTA El train operators have a sense of humor.